bloggering away.....

Can you give us a royal wave?

2008-07-03T15:32:00.002+09:00

It was just wishful thinking. No one was there at Buckingham Palace that day - no Queen Elizabeth, Prince Phillip, Prince Charles nor his royal pin-up sons. I even missed the Changing of the Guards ceremony because I went there too late.

Even though it was nearly nightfall, there were still plenty of tourists up and about enjoying the quiet evening. I must say that I was a little bit disappointed. I thought that the palace would be huge - but it turned out to be quite ordinary. In my imagination, I thought it would stretch out for miles! What is inside is probably breathtaking but what is on the outside, well, I have definitely seen more impressive facades.

The Victoria Memorial stands right in front of the royal palace and features the large, imposing statue of Queen Victoria and statues of the angels of Truth, Justice, Charity, Courage, Motherhood and at the pinnacle, the golden statue of Victory. Quite impressive.

Night fell and slowly, people departed. I too made my way back slowly to Trafalgar Square to board the Underground to meet my friend for dinner. Despite my initial disappointment about the size of the palace, I was quite content because this time, I managed to take pictures of the palace! Ah...the beauty of digital over film.

Fly away pigeons!

2008-06-29T23:02:00.002+09:00

Standing outside the National Gallery, you will never be able to miss the pigeons. There were plenty of photo opportunities if you stand there long enough and I took advantage of it since I had time to kill. Took a series of black and white shots of the people, mostly kids, feeding the pigeons and posing for the cameras. It was a beautiful sunny day too, in London.

Night view of London

2008-06-15T14:54:00.002+09:00

Night view of London was breathtaking. Here are a series of pictures taken from the Waterloo bridge. From the bridge, you can see the Golden Jubilee and Hungerford bridges and Westminster from afar. It was a nice pleasant walk back to the station to take the train back.

The British Museum

2008-06-04T16:13:00.002+09:00

On my first trip to London, I had only an hour to tour the British Museum before closing time. This time around however, I had decided, no matter what, that I would finish touring the British Museum!

It did help of course that the museum is free of charge (YAY!) so I wasn't concerned about re-visiting the place more than once. Pounds - damn if it isn't expensive! I was quite please to note that nearly all the museums and galleries in London have free admissions, except if there is a special exhibition.

Egypt

The British museum is fantastic. Can't say enough about it. Plenty of things to see and to explore. One of my favourites and of course for most of the crowd, is the Egyptian exhibition. Having not been to Egypt yet, this is the closest I can get to it.

Africa

The fun part about visiting the museum alone is that I did not have to worry about lagging behind or finishing too early. I took my time and it was time well spent. It did help of course that my friend's workplace was nearby, so I did not have to worry about time.

If I ever do go back to London again, this is the one place that I would definitely be visiting again.

A new terror in town!

2008-05-21T14:32:00.002+09:00

No, no....not a monster or anything but the terror came in the form of my friend who visited me early this month. And I do mean "terror" in an affectionate way.

Watching my friend trying to become "kawaii" is hilarious seeing that she is anything but kawaii in the Japanese sense of the word.

Our days and nights were filled with walking around (well, she did most of the sight seeing with another friend since I had to go to the lab), shopping and her favourite pastime - drinking! Den-en is the magic fountain of booze for alcohol lovers with their nomihodai course and recently, as we found out, they even have 50% discount off their menu on certain days! Do I hear the thundering running footsteps heading towards Den-en now?

The girl sings Leon Lai songs non-stop, complete with actions and facial expressions, that it is a torture to go to karaoke with her! Joking Lusty! She sang the songs with so much "feel" that it is hilarious! I actually do have a couple of videos of her singing with so much passion! Hmmm, I think this calls for blackmail. Let me see - What do I want?

Well, Kyoto is so much more quieter now that she has gone back home. No more late night singing on the streets, risking the wrath of sleepy residents. No more boisterous Chinese karaoke sessions. No more accosting hapless friends to ask them if they think she is beautiful in French. No more Den-en.

Life is certainly less noisy now but I find that I miss the noise! Come back soon Lusty!

(All the photos were taken with the Contax G2 using the Ilford B&W film)

Fancy becoming a Maiko-san for a day?

2008-05-08T14:51:00.002+09:00

Have you ever spotted a Maiko-san or a Geisha (or Geiko as they are called in Kyoto) on the streets of Gion or even Tetsugaku no michi? Well, before you get all excited and started thinking that you have hit a jackpot with the Kyoto treasures, make sure that they are the real deal!

One rule of thumb is that if they are willing to pose for you, chances are, they are just tourists having a fun time dressing up as Maiko-san or Geisha. The true Geisha or Maiko-san are always in a hurry, walking from one tea house to another and nearly always avoiding contact with pesky photographers (guilty!). Your best bet is to wait for them at the "hanamachi" areas.

The only time you would ever get them to pose is when they are with their customers. Otherwise, you would have to hound them like a dog to get a decent picture of them. I have never been up close to a celebrity before but the way the tourists (and occasionally me) surround them with their cameras, which is at the same crazy and funny, gave me an insight as to what it must be like to be near one. No wonder they hate us! I wouldn't want me to take my pictures either if I was a Maiko-san.

But back to the original story of this post, my friend had decided that she wanted to become a Maiko-san for a day. She tried unsuccessfully to persuade me and a couple of others to join her. I backed out because for one, I had no money to spare and two, it I always find it more fun to take their pictures! I had been with my friends before when they had done this two years back and I had written a post on it.

First of all, one has to make a reservation and we did not know that we had to make one three days in advance! So I called them up and concocted a lie, saying that she was just in Kyoto for a day and desperately wanted to do the whole Maiko thing! And we were successful!

The studio is located near Kiyomizudera. There are a couple of plans to choose from, and the prices differ accordingly. You can have professional photographers trailing you around, as you walk about scenic areas, or you could have only 10 minutes outside for "personal photography", which was of course, the cheapest plan at 6900¥.

Unfortunately for the both of us, we could not take pictures inside the building, during the make-up process. It would have been so cool but oh well. Actually, I sneaked in a few shots here and there, before I got caught!

After the make-up process, my friend proceeded to choose her kimono and was dressed up by the staffs. The wig that she had to put on was damn heavy and she had neck pains from just wearing it on her head for a mere 20 minutes or so! Imagine those girls who paid to walk around the area for like an hour! I wonder if you could just sit down somewhere and take the wig off for a bit and then put it back on and continue the journey. It would be unsightly of course, but hey, your neck hurts!

So after dressing up, the girls are ushered into the photo studio for their portrait shots. After that, they are released into the streets full of tourists who are bound to ask them to pose with them. My friend had only ten minutes outside. So we did the best we could. Of course, half the time I was too busy laughing my head off so I had to delete a couple of shots because I could not hold the camera steadily enough for a good portrait shot! My friend is damn funny!

We had so much fun! We did all the poses - the demure ones, the pretty ones, the absolutely-I-am-not-a-Maiko ones. Too bad I can't post some of them here! She will kill me! Haha!

We walked around the area a bit and found a restaurant with a beautiful noren and gate to pose in front of. Spent most of our time there and then walked back to the studio. After just 10 minutes, my friend was complaining of neck pain. I don't envy her!

All in all, it was a good day! We had many shots that we liked and many shots that were hilarious! I am glad that my friend had fun! So if you guys would like to try this one out, then I am glad to be of service! I would not however be persuaded to join to become one as I really do not like having neck pains :).

My new (well, old actually) Contax G2

2008-05-02T13:38:00.002+09:00

I have to thank Paul for introducing me to the Contax G2 film camera. It looks good (yes, I am THAT easy) and it has incredible lenses. I had to buy it second hand though because they stopped manufacturing it some time back but thank goodness for the camera shops here in Japan.

So I started off with the B&W film. I have this thing, this obsession with B&W photos which I can't explain. I find myself taking more and more pictures in B&W. To me, when the picture is devoid of colour, it forces you to look at the subject at hand, to pay more attention to it rather than to be distracted by the colours. Of course, there are many times when colour is needed to better enhance the photos i.e. spring.

Unlike my Canon SLR, I cannot simply experiment with the settings just yet so I decided to be a coward (money is the key factor in this decision) and just put the settings on Auto. Ssshhh....!

I took pictures of my friend's graduation with the Contax in B&W and I must say, I really liked how the pictures turned out. They commemorated the occasion in a nostalgic way. Of course, I gave the pictures to my friend, who promptly forgot to take them back home with him! Hmmph! CHAN!!!!

Printing the photos was exciting because I had no idea how they will turn out. The excitement, the anticipation of seeing the photographs! Of course, then the pain of parting with the money for the processing......which, although painful, was satisfying.

So, here are some of the pictures that I took. I have a roll of coloured film in it now and will send it for processing as soon as I am done taking pictures with it!

Yeah, these guys with the bare asses were doing something at the Doshisha University campus, in conjunction with the graduation day. I just had to take their picture!

And I think they were brothers, playing outside the shop while the parents were inside. The little one was adorable and the elder one was just plain good looking!

More black and white shots of spring

2008-04-26T14:52:00.002+09:00

Having had too many flower pictures in colour, I decided to shoot in B&W this spring. Partly inspired by Ansel Adams. Partly, to keep myself from getting bored of taking the same 'ol pictures.

So, after my attempt with the sakura blossoms, I turned my attention to the other flowers when I went to the botanical gardens but I couldn't resist the vibrant coloured tulips on display so I had to take some colour shots.

The lighter coloured blossoms, white in particular, looked gorgeous against the dark background, especially with the back light. I had to wait, arms cramped, at that same position, until the clouds parted and the sun shone again to catch the particular shot I wanted. Yeah, yeah I know....I should get a tripod. But I am too malas to lug it around :p

But the darker hued tulips surprised me, producing an effect I did not quite expect because I thought the flowers would be lost in the background. It took me a while to get the right settings but I am happy with the results.

I love this one in particular. I posted a shot of these flowers in colour but I think I love the B&W more. How about you? Enjoy the rest of the photos.....

Something to cheer you up!

2008-04-21T14:53:00.002+09:00

Spring flowers - bold, bright and beautiful. They lift my spirits up whenever I see them. A sign of new life perhaps; a sign that a new phase had begun and therefore, hope.

After a bleak, cold winter, what is more soothing to the soul than a blast of colours everywhere?

Even the lack of sunlight in this rainy season fails to subdue the vibrancy of spring.

So enjoy the flowers! Hope they bring forth a smile to last the day :)

Spring....

2008-04-18T02:40:00.000+09:00

I really like this picture somehow. It makes me happy just looking at it. Maybe I am just a bit off today...haha!

Sakura, sakura

2008-04-11T15:48:00.001+09:00

A study in black and white

2008-04-07T02:53:00.002+09:00

I forgot the name of the flower and I am too lazy to check the internet for it. Hehe. But I remembered that it was called "yuki hana" or something like that because of its resemblance to snow when the tiny, delicate flowers are in full bloom.

The flowers bloom at the same time with the cherry blossoms, so it is quite lovely seeing the combination of the two flowers. Since the flowers are white in colour, I decided to do black and white portraits of them - inspired partly by Ansel Adams.

The white will stand out against the dark background but I had to fiddle quite a bit to get the settings just right. I spent so much time standing in front of the flowers, taking pictures at the same spot that people just stared at me but I am used to it.

So enjoy the pictures of the "yuki hana". They are really quite beautiful.

Are you not like me?

2008-04-04T20:18:00.002+09:00

Check out his poses. Aren't they human like?

Natadola Beach

2008-04-01T17:43:00.003+09:00

Natadola beach is the one of the most beautiful beaches, according to many sources, in Viti Levu, Fiji. The vast expense of the sandy white beach and the clear turquoise blue water is simply breathtaking. I went there on four separate occasions. The first time, just right after the hurricane; the second time, at dawn; the third time, in the evening and the last time, in the afternoon. I had been there before, three years back and was simply awed by its beauty. When I first set eyes on the beach again after three years, I was shocked to see that the sandy white beach had disappeared, eaten up by the rising sea level caused by the hurricane that just passed and the waves were strong. Since I am a hopeless swimmer, I decided to just watch the waves rolling in. The sea and its vast wilderness although fascinating, terrifies me sometimes, more so on days like these.

Then, when I went back there again later, after a few days, the sea level had fallen, and the beach returned to its former glory. Dawn was simply beautiful, with the soft morning light, falling gently on the waves and with no one around, it was just serene. As we sat there, enjoying the soft breeze, a man came by, riding on his horse with his dogs chasing each other. Just perfect.

I had a happy time just walking along the beach, collecting corals and small shells and stumbled upon this gorgeous little lagoon with its deep emerald blue waters which was hidden from view from the main beach, just like a private lagoon. I was just stunned.

Although it is famous, it is still relatively uncrowded, but that will change once the beach resort opens.

Le Bouchon

2008-03-25T23:39:00.002+09:00

To celebrate my friend's birthday (well, actually, it was a belated birthday celebration) we went to try out this french restaurant that we had heard so much about. Every time I cycled past it, I keep telling myself that I will try it one day and I finally did. I have to admit that I am a bit biased about French food in Japan. One that it is expensive and secondly, that the serving portion is small (this being Japan after all).

However, I was happy to be proven wrong. The quantity and quality as well as the presentation were excellent and the price was just nice for the dinner set. We were served with delicious baguette, accompanied with olives and black olives paste which was amazing. For my entrée, I had escargots with mushrooms and for the main dish, I had duck topped with an orange based sauce. Interesting combination. Then for dessert, I had "fruits of the season" tart which, in this season, was strawberries. I were stuffed - an amazing feeling! And I love the fruit tart! Delicious!

Sayonara

2008-03-21T14:56:00.006+09:00

March is ending. And when it does, my life will be a little bit sadder. I will miss the company of my good friends who had been with me for nearly four years here, as we have been through many ups and downs together. Four years! Four years that had gone by like a speck of dust in the wind! But not just an insignificant speck of dust. Quite the contrary. I think my life is richer because of it, because of the people that I have met that became my friends.

It seems that my circle of friends here is diminishing! Sad but true. Although I would love to keep them here for myself, I have no choice but to stand back and watch them leave (I don't think I have the strength or power to forcibly keep them here! Haha!). And even though my heart is heavy, I wish them nothing but all the luck, happiness and love in the world as they begin a new chapter in life.

To all of you guys (and you all know who you are!) - Kampai!!

Your friend always,
Ai Ling

P/S Remember to keep in contact or else......!!!

P/S/S Thanks also to Mai, Eddie and Ernesto for taking some of the photographs shown here - written under "notes".

Bubbly fun

2008-03-17T01:49:00.002+09:00

My nephews, Ethan and Dylan, having loads of fun with the bubble gun! In fact, I had loads of fun with the bubble gun! Ah.....to be a child again....

Out in the sea

2008-03-12T16:09:00.005+09:00

All these pictures were taken in Bourewa. I could not get closer as the horses sensed that I was approaching and was on full alert. I had only my macro lens with me at that time and did the best I could with it. I love the last picture but unfortunately the settings were awful - it came out too dark.

Dim sum galore!

2008-03-07T23:45:00.002+09:00

I caught up with my friends for a lunch time feast of dim sum "tabehodai" aka eat-all-you-can dim sum buffet. However, in Japan, buffets are usually limited to only 90 minutes - not enough for me! I am so used to the buffet style back home where you can eat, chit-chat for a while, then eat again, then chat, then eat.....you get the drift.

I had been to this place only once prior to this lunch date. Besides the offering of dim sums, the restaurant also serves other Chinese dishes such as fried noodles, rice, etc as well as dessert. I think they also serve wine but I am not sure if it is included in the buffet price or you will have to pay separately. But er, wine and dim sum?

Lunch time is cheaper of course, around 1590 yen per person for 90 minutes. Dinner buffet is slightly more expensive but you get the same food, as far as I can tell. Although it was just lunch time and it was during a weekday, there was still a crowd in the restaurant.

This dim sum place is not the best I have eaten of course. Just go to any dim sum stall/restaurant back home and they can beat this place flat in terms of taste, quantity, value and surprisingly service. I have no idea what the waitresses had for breakfast but it sure as hell wasn't good cause they were all unsmiling and unfriendly, which was a surprise considering that service and presentation is everything in Japan. They looked like they rather spit on the dim sums than to serve us.

However, since I have no cash to go to an upscale "true" Chinese restaurant, I will have to make do with this one and just shut my mouth and eat.

Lomo fun part 2

2008-02-29T21:36:00.004+09:00

Lomo fun is back again! This time I was using the black and white film - Ilford 400. Processing the B&W film was more expensive than the colour films but it was worth it. This time, I was much more pleased with the end results. I had finally understood how the range focus works. I had a few blur pictures though, but that was because I tried to shoot in low light conditions without a tripod.

Obviously the Lomo LC-A+ was built for colour. The colour pictures were much more vibrant but the B&W fared not badly either. I have not tried taking pictures with the LC-A+ in daylight conditions yet.

Fishing in Bourewa, Fiji

2008-02-26T00:18:00.002+09:00

I miss lunchtime at Bourewa. Besides gazing out into the ocean while eating, I had the occasional pleasure of watching the Fijian villagers fish at the nearby shallow reefs with their horses. What a sight! To see the horse streak across the shallow waters to the turquoise blue reefs.

I will post those photos in the next post, but first up are the photos of the fishermen. When the time came for me to take my lunch break, I immediately grabbed my camera and waded out towards the fishermen.

They were very welcoming and encouraged me to get closer to them so that I could take better pictures (I had only my wide angle zoom lens). The boys even posed for me and I love the first picture.

After posing for me, they went on their way and I snapped a few more pictures before heading back to shore to eat my lunch.

I see groups of them, all men, heading to the reefs to fish nearly everyday. Sometimes they come by horseback, and other times by foot. The horses were a sight, especially when they run across the waters. Coming from a place where the only time you can see a horse is either at the zoo or at a racing track, seeing horses this free is an amazing feeling.

The reefs nearer to the shore were almost all dead. The Bourewa beach is a beautiful sight but during low tide, it is not ideal for swimming. Further offshore, you can see a strip of beautiful turquoise blue with the waves lapping at the fringes. Gazing at it everyday while there is a memory that I will always keep with me. And one of the things that I missed most.

Sometimes you can see many groups of men, all the out at the reefs, fishing. From where we sit at the beach, they looked so tiny, that sometimes I had a hard time distinguishing whether they were fishermen or just boulders.

I wanted to wade out into the reefs but it proved too far. Now......if I had the horse......

Fiji - The Kids

2008-02-19T23:24:00.004+09:00

One memory that I will always carry with me of Fiji is of my time with the kids in the Fijian village that hosted me for two weeks while I was there on an archaeological dig. They welcomed me with open arms; all of the villagers did, but the kids were especially cheerful.

And they were such a joy to photograph! All of the kids were very willing to pose for me. In fact, some of them have their "trademark poses" ready for me everytime I press the shutter button, as you will soon notice in the following photographs.

And after every shot, the kids would scramble to view the picture on my camera and took delight in seeing their faces and of their friends on my screen. I am just going to post the photos below:

The Lomo LC-A+ experience

2008-02-12T18:07:00.000+09:00

I went out and got my Lomo LC-A+ recently and immediately started shooting using the Fuji Film (ISO100) that came with the camera pack. The Lomo LC-A+ is known for its vibrant saturation of colours, the sometimes-funny focusing and the vignetting at the corners.

Among the lomo/holga/"toy cameras" that are so hype today, the LC-A+ is not the cheapest, but I have read good reviews about this camera, so I thought I would give it a try since I have been wanting to experiment taking pictures with them.

As you can see in some of my photos here, I still have a lot to learn about using the zone focus spec in this camera. But still, it was a fun experience, just shooting and trying to find as much colours as possible (I wanted to see the colour saturation).

Out of the 36 possible pictures, only a few turned out sharp and in focus. The rest were blurred, some awfully but for some, the blurriness seemed to enhance the pictures even more. I let you be the judge of that:

So, I will keep on trying till I understand how this little camera works (it looked deceptively bigger on the computer screen) and I will post the results as I shoot.

Mum and sis

2008-02-08T17:31:00.000+09:00

I really love this picture. At first I thought this picture was doomed because I took it without adjusting the settings on my camera so the picture came out really dark. But since it is a digital file, I could manipulate it and saved the picture!

Arghhh......It is CNY and I am not home :(

A Lovely Wedding

2008-02-01T16:07:00.000+09:00

A dearest friend of mine got married recently and I was lucky enough to be there with some of my closest friends to celebrate the occasion with her. It seems like yesterday we were in high school together and now, she is entering the next phase in her life.

It was a very colourful affair. Colours were just everywhere, which was wonderful. The celebration took two full days in Taiping, just before Christmas. It was my first time attending a Punjabi wedding, so I was excited. Plus Woan Chiun and Joyce (and her family), managed to make the trip back, so that tripled the fun.

The first day was the oil ceremony which took place in the bride's home. The groom and his family came only on the next day for the wedding ceremony in the temple.

There were a lot of bhangra moves that night! Her house was transformed into a mini disco complete with flashing lights! All that was missing was the mirror ball...

I have not seen the groom prior to the wedding. The cons of being far away from your friends. So I had to go and introduce myself as I was busy taking his pictures!

Sharon was so lovely that day. Beautiful and radiant, as a bride should be :) And of course, Prithipal was just as handsome.

I was really happy to be there. I missed my other friends' weddings and I was determined not to miss this one as well. To Sharon and Prithipal - Thanks so much for sharing your special day with us. Wishing you both lots of love from the bottom of my heart! Hugs.....